Best Friends Since Ever

Summary:
Bella and Amanda have been best friends since... ever. So of course that's who Renee turns to when Bella needs help with her post-Edward depression. But Amanda has a huge secret.. one that literally blurs the lines of fantasy and reality. Note- I changed the last chapter a bit to fit better with what I want to write in the sequel, so you may want to re-read it.

Notes:
This is my first (written down) fan fic, so I'd really love people's opinions (however brutal they may be) to help me improve and make the story better. Thanks for reading, I hope you like it!

2. Back to School

Bella was still asleep when Charlie got up Monday morning. I, however, was wide-awake and ready to pounce over his breakfast.

“I think Bella needs to go back to school today.”

“What?”

“Staying home is giving her too much time to wallow in her misery. She needs to go back, to have something to do, to interact with other people. She needs this to help her heal.” His face was guarded, but I knew he agreed with me.

“All right.”

“Don’t worry Charlie. I’ll take care of her.” I got Bella up after Charlie had left. No need for himto see how hard this would be for her.

“You shower,” I said, shoving her into the bathroom, “While I get your breakfast ready. She managed, somehow, to make it through the shower without incident and ate what I forced her to of breakfast. I had taken her all the way upstairs and gotten her dressed before she finally got suspicious.

“Where are we going?” She asked, frightened. I knew she was afraid I was taking her back to Renee, or somewhere else away from Forks.

“School. Now Come on! We’re going to be late!”

She looked like she was going to fall apart again, so I didn’t give her a chance to dwell. I shoved her into the car I bought from a dealer in Seattle knowing I would be here too long to just rent. I really loved it though. It was a little European car, a bug compared to the big SUVs and Vans most kids were driving, but it was sleek and shiny, and got about 60 miles to the gallon. Plus, I knew for a fact my squashed, black car, looked nothing like the shiny sports cars the Cullen’s owned, and was the farthest thing possible from a certain silver Volvo.

It did stand out in the school parking lot though. As if we needed another reason for people to stare. Is that the new girl that just pulled up in that fancy car? Is that Bella Swan, back from the dead, in the passenger seat? They practically screamed their thoughts, which were evident on their faces. Bella, for once, did not seem fazed by the staring and attention we got as we walked into our first period class (yes, I transferred here and got them to give me the same schedule as Bella). Actually, she didn’t seem to notice it at all. Or anything else for that matter. That was not good. Her friends ambushed us before we made it to the safe haven of the classroom.

“Bella! You’re back!” Called a boy I recognized as Mike Newton.

“Whose you’re friend?” A girl named Jessica asked.

Several other people also began asking us questions and I could tell Bella was about to snap again. These were exactly the kind of questions I was trying to avoid. I stepped forward and put out my hand before anyone could ask a question that would send Bella back into her depressive spiral.

“Hi! You must be Bella’s friends! I’ve heard so much about you! My name is Amanda Landi, I’m Bella’s best friend from Phoenix. It’s great to meet all of Bella‘s new friends. I‘d love to stop and get to know y‘all right now, but we really need to get to class.” I said, herding Bella away. Class was boring, but it gave Bella something to focus on, just as I had predicted. She took notes furiously throwing every bit of concentration into the teacher‘s lecture. We were ambushed again after first period. Thankfully, Bella was in the bathroom and I was able to let my protect-poor-fragile-Bella instincts take over.

“Look. Bella has been my best friend since pre-k. Whatever that Cullen boy did to her hurt her bad. She doesn’t need any reminders to make this more painful then it has to be. Just carry on like nothing happened. Got it?” I gave them a menacing stare, and they nodded weakly clearly intimidated. I smiled warmly and went back to my pleasant self. “Good. Ah, there you are Bella. We’re gonna be late for class again.” She just nodded as I pulled her down the hallway.